The Decay of Time  

{Pictures}

As a golden shard floats in the cold darkness of space, A shard that contains the very essence of the emperor himself… At the same time, the very man the emperor called his best friend took his place on that horrid throne… Malcado was a man after the emperor's own heart! As he slowly withered to dust on that cursed seat of gold, the children of our king felt his very sorrows! 

As the man, the emperor loved as a brother, reached out his hand to give out the last of his power, it marked the beginning of woes! That was far worse than the wars of our golden age! For some of his children lay dead, dying, or missing! Hell, some are even filled with chaos! A family shattered that caused the imperium to enter its darkest time yet! For the emperor gave us hope… But who will give him hope? For though he is a God… he is still just a man at heart… a broken man… something we so easily forget… for we cry to him in our time of need, whether they be aliens or diseases or just things that scar us… but what about him... Who is his rock? 

 Is this feeling one of the reasons we can so easily throw away our lives for him… for duty they call it… or take the lives of those we once perceived as innocent who have done no wrong but to question the faith… to question is to be normal... To doubt is normal… but to shoot children who are born differently… is that normal? Or to throw people into a furnace, like cooking pork! Is that normal? To turn people into living machines called servitors… is that normal? 

I wonder what Sanguinius would think if he were to be alive today… would he weep for us… for his father? Or would he curse that in which we have become…But I fear it is the latter… what do you think... LAYLA! 

Screamed a Broken corporal eye in the shade of teal blue 

 BOOM! 

[Layla, wake up!] screamed Mary as Molly quickly got to work. 

As Layla came to the sounds of horrifying banging and Mary's consent worrying calls, she looked around to a dark room, that was drenched in wet fresh blood, and all matters of fungi growing in hidden spaces. 

{damn was I unconscious again?} asked Layla through the uncomfortable hug Mary was giving her. 

[Dummy… that's the first thing you have to say after waking up?] replied Mary 

With a hand on Mary's shoulder, Layla said: 

{I'm sorry for worrying you, but now is not the time… what is the situation?} 

Annoyed Layla was changing the subject again, but not able to refute, Mary said: 

[everything is fine but it's odd.] 

{what's odd? And please don't say the obvious.} replied Layla while observing the area with her light. 

[well… besides the weird fungi life and corpses of people that look like they just died a few moments ago… It seems the people who died in this room forcibly took out the energy cell and destroyed it with their own hands!] replied Molly before Mary could think of an answer 

{mmm… now that is odd… why would they destroy the power cells…} replied Layla with a thinking motion 

[that's what you find odd? And not the fact that these bodies look fresh and old at the same time… with half-rusty walls and pristine clean ones?] interjected Mary in a fuss 

{Oh! That's easy… it's just a chaos god using weird magic warp stuff to mess with time… It's nothing too surprising…} replied Layla without thinking 

[Not too surprising! hold up what chaos god? I think you mentioned them before, but I forgot about it.] replied Mary with a tilted head 

{oh! Shit! That's right I forgot that the imperium doesn't tell people much about chaos! How should I..} thought Layla to herself, when she had an Epiphany. 

{Just think of them as really powerful aliens on par with the emperor in strength… but please don't go around talking about them in public or anywhere near the Imperium army etc..} replied Layla with a sly smile 

[oh!... but why can't we talk about them?] replied Mary with squinted eyes of those who only half believe what they have been told. 

{Because they'll kill you… and Everyone you know} replied Layla with all seriousness that even scared Molly, who was busily opening the box she smacked earlier. 

[Oh! Man! That's just sad…] said Molly out loud. 

{what is?} replied Layla as she too looked in the box. 

[Molly what did you do! I leave you alone for a few minutes and you destroyed a box of power cells!] yelled Mary at the top of her lungs 

[It's not my fault! How could I have known they were there. Besides if I didn't hit the box, we would all be dead now!] argued back Molly in annoyance. 

As Mary and Molly bickered like children, Layla looked around and touched the fungi with her hands, she felt the gooey blood on the floor, and she observed corpses of men trying to shut the door or those who died while they damaged the controls! 

{hey Mary!} called out Layla, disturbing the girls bickering 

[yes?] relied Mary 

{can we still go through with the plan with these damage controls?} asked Layla 

[Yes, don't worry we're lucky they didn't damage the panel switches! We just need to plug in the cell and we're good to go!] replied Mary 

Quickly handing over the cell to Mary and Molly to set everything up, Layla continued to scan the destroyed panels and torn up walls, until a faint light caught her eye! She then turned to see what looked like a foggy glass window, to a silhouette in the dark. While wiping away the fog around the glass, she turned off her light and saw a green sword light up! And with it, she screamed: 

{GET DOWN!} 

With her words, a multitude of bolter rounds came flying in! As the bullet came flying in, Molly pulled Mary onto the floor while covering them both with her shield! As Layla returned fire, she heard a bellowing laughter that sounded like it came from a small creature! She didn't know what it was, she only prayed it wasn't a herald from the plague lord himself… 

{please don't tell me a herald is here! Could my luck really be this bad?} thought Layla to herself as the gunfire stopped. 

With smoke leaving the green man's weapons, one dressed in skulls lowered his weapon, as a small green demon rested upon his shoulders, with a rough voice that sounded like one tongue was crippled, voicing its opinions: 

[Oh... daughters of the emperor… why hid from the inevitable… our master calls for you and has so gracefully held out his hands towards you… Now… why not join us in entropy?] 

Seeing that the madman wished to talk, Layla nodded at Mary to carefully continue the plan as Layla prepared her silver tongue. 

{what benefit would we gain by joining your lord in your so-called "entropy"?} replied Layla as she slowly peaked from beneath the floor. 

But to her shock the men that stood before her weren't what she had thought… or better yet… hoped for… for what stood in front of her were no normal men, but former space marines! With the power armor of those who once served the death guard, they stood tall and deformed with glowing green power swords and armor covered in plague and sores! 

[Stop! Your punny attempt to buy time is overall a waste of time! Just stop! For your struggle is pointless and meaningless…] said the death guard. 

But while he talked, Mary managed to get the light on for only a second before swapping the doors open on the 3rd floor, but in those few precious moments, Layla saw the three men in all their full glory, unfiltered and uncensored! With maggots and worms dropping off their sores, and flies twice the size of horse flies made them their food. With grotesque horns, and rotting skin with their organs partially showing, with oozing pus, and twisted bones they wore as decoration! All while they carried diseased filled tentacles that wrapped them in their pleasing allure. 

{Oh! So, should we just allow ourselves and our world to be consumed in your grandfather's entropy? Then!} replied Layla with anger undertones 

[This world is fated to be devoured anyway… it has no need to be saved… it is but a pebble in the overall plan! Why fight what you cannot win against? Why be the daughter of a false god who doesn't love you? You know deep down in your heart you are nothing more than mere tools to such a being… but our father… our father truly loves us… and he will love you just the same!] said the death guard. 

{traitors of our emperor light! You should have just died than take the bargain 'He' offered you…} replied Layla while thinking up a plan. 

[Ha! What do you know? You speak as if you were there! Whelp! You know nothing of pain and suffering! That day... That cursed day when our ship was trapped in the warp… we wished for death, but our loving father kept it from us! But while wrapped in his embrace and on our knees our chapter master… nah! Our Primarch Mortarion saved us from the pain! Unlike that false king who ignored our pleas and left us to suffer!] replied the death guard with mixed emotions 

[That being said why devote yourself so strongly to a man who never wishes to be a God? A man who hated worship so much he nearly killed a son for it! Do you not know the god you worship is just a man who never wanted to be a god?] continued the death guard as a thick sheet of metal slowly closed shut the window! 

But as the metal enclosed the opening form top and bottom, Layla looked through the little slit that was left just in time to stare into the eyes of the death guard and said: 

{your right he never wanted to be a god…. But it's precisely that reason why we worship him! For he is neither greedy for our sinful pleasures, nor our wants to change times or fate, nor our fear of decay and death… hell he doesn't even want our souls for power! He is the most selfless God to exist!} 

As Layla finished her sentence, and the window shut, she turned when a seductive voice filled her mind with a vision! 

[Hurry! Come to me… come to me on the 3rd floor!] said a glowing blue eye with a pinkish outline behind shattered glass. 

But just as Layla brought down her hands from her head, three bright green swords stabbed right through the thick metal shutters! The sudden shock of the swords going through the metal like butter knocked Layla over in surprise! But knowing she and her friends stood no chance against three death guards, Layla quickly picked herself up and ran to her friends as her vision turned to show a path to follow! 

Not having time to consider the voice as friendly or not, nor having the time to think about her sudden vision showing her a glowing path, Layla just trusted in it for now, as to not, would mean certain death otherwise! 

Confused, Mary and Molly were about to say something when Layla pulled out a floor panel and dragged them with her further down to the 3rd floor, as the death guard trampled into the small room! As they lit up the small room with their lights, their targets were nowhere to be seen. But that was only for a moment for they soon found the missing floor panel. As their light shined down below into the abyss, the three death guards gathered around the floor panel that was way too small for their bloated seven-foot-tall selves! 

[ doesn't want your souls huh... you right little bunny... he may not want you soul, but the thing down their will surly love your soul!] Said the death guard in a whisper.